I woke up at six this morning and heard the rain. It was a quiet rain. I wasn’t ready to stay up so I went back to bed. When I woke up, I noticed that parts of the deck were dry. The rain didn’t last long, but it lasted long enough to ruin the day. The sky is cloudy. Despite the breeze, it is hot and humid, hot enough to need the air conditioner. I’m going nowhere today.

My Birthday was wonderful. Edible Fruits arrived with a gift from my sister. I’m thinking few foods taste better than pineapple half covered in chocolate. I had dinner at my friends’. We had the sweetest corn, burgers, one of my favorite all time foods, potato salad and a marinated onions, cucumbers and tomato salad. I think I smacked my lips at the aroma of the burgers cooking. I wasn’t disappointed. I opened presents and ate Lemon Meringue Pie, my favorite. The lemon was wonderfully sour. To top off the day, we watched the Sox win. It was the best birthday.

When I was a kid, on the days leading up to my birthday, I’d sit on the front steps and wait for the mailman certain he was delivering my birthday cards. If none came, I was always disappointed. I’d wait the next day and the next. When one finally came, I’d tear open the envelope and shake the card before I even read it. A dollar usually fluttered to the floor. I was a rich kid. A couple of more cards would come from aunts and uncles and more dollars would flutter to the floor. I’d count my stash, a Scrooge McDuck move. On the big day I’d have wrapped presents from my parents and from one set of grandparents, my father’s. My mother usually chose the gift they’d give. I was never disappointed. My mother knew what I’d love. I still have a few Bobbsey Twins books inscribed with Happy Birthday and signed by my grandparents, really just my grandmother for the both of them. I still recognize her handwriting. I was a big fan of the Bobbsey Twins, Nan and Bert and Freddie and Flossie.

Today I’ll have some chocolate fruit and a piece or two of lemon meringue pie.